Kelowna breakthrough not part of the NDP’s big night

Local candidates trounced by Liberal incumbents, but were cheering gains made provincially

Loud cheers filled the Black Box Theatre Tuesday night, as Kelowna BC NDP supporters watched their party pull ahead of the Liberals, followed by moments of tension and silence as they fell behind.

While the race between the NDP and Liberals provincially was too close to call for most of the night, local NDP candidates fell further and further behind the Liberal incumbents, who won all three Kelowna ridings by a landslide.

Shelley Cook, BC NDP candidate in Kelowna West, said she was disappointed, but not surprised with the local results.

“I knew it was going to be tough; I didn’t have unrealistic expectations about anything,” she said.

“I thought British Columbians, especially those in Kelowna West were interested in change, and at the end of the day it’s their vote, and I respect that.”

Cook remained optimistic as the BC NDP appeared neck and neck with the Liberals.

“We fought a good fight, but at the end of the day what’s important is that B.C. is orange,” she said. “I’m really excited to see what happens provincially, and that was really what was more important to me.”

The local campaign was a tough fight for the NDP candidates, said Karen Abramsen, president of the BC NDP Kelowna West constituency association.

“We’re from the Okanagan you know, it’s always a tough fight for us, and we always go into every election as optimistic as we can like we’re going to win or at least make inroads and advance our support,” she said. “It’s hard to fight against the incumbent sometimes, and it’s hard to fight against the big money that the Liberals had to blow the ads on the TV.”

Although local NDP candidates did not fare well on election day, they still made an impact on the community throughout the campaign, said Abramsen.

“We had a great response from people on the doorsteps,” she said. “We had three really strong candidates here, very bright, articulate, so we have nothing to be ashamed of.”

Kelowna-Lake Country candidate Erik Olesen and KelownaMission candidate Harwinder Sandhu had not appeared at the NDP party in the back of the Kelowna Community Theatre before 10 p.m.

GARY NYLANDER/The Daily Courier Manuel Said, congratulates Shelley Cook, NDP candidate for Kelowna West riding, during celebrations at the Kelowna Community Theatre on Tuesday evening.

GARY NYLANDER/The Daily Courier Longtime NDP supporter Eileen Robinson watches the election results early on Tuesday night as her party was trailing.The NDP started gaining ground as the night went on.